Platon67 wrote:
"Steven P. McNicoll" a écrit dans le message de news: et...

"Platon67" wrote in message
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Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Flight (1903-2003)


Are you saying that the Wrights did not achieve powered, sustained,
controlled
heavier-than-air flight in 1903, or are you saying that someone else
achieved it before them?


The flight of the Wrights was not the first flight of an airplane by using his motor.
It was the first "controlled" flight.

I'm not the greatest supporter of all the hoopla surrounding the Wrights
- they get a lot of credit that should belong to others and there is a
tendency to believe that the Wrights invented the aeroplane, full stop.

That said, the Wrights were unquestionably the first to achieve manned,
powered, sustained, *controlled* flight in a heavier-than-air machine.
That's what intelligent and knowledgeable people claim for the Wrights.
While many of the design components of the Wright Flyer that led to its
success were not inventions of the Wrights (superposed planes, high
aspect ratio, curved wing surfaces, elevators - and so it goes on) -
there Wrights added a couple of critical elements of their own. Most
significant of all was the fact that the Wright Flyer was controllable
in *all three axes* -- that was the real breakthrough (plus the use of
co-ordinated rudder and roll control to effect turns). The Wrights'
adoption of aerodynamic roll control is what we should be celebrating on
the 17th, because it's that that led to the final emergence (after at
least 100 years of development) of the true aeroplane.

The aeroplane took a long time to evolve - and it was an evolution, not
an invention, despite what popular histories and TV science might have
you believe. The first significant breakthrough came with Cayley's
identification of the four forces of flight -- an insight without which
the Wrights would never have got started. Over the next 100 years, there
were many advances -- so much so that the basic form of the aeroplane
was already defined before the Wrights ever became interested, thanks to
the like of Pénaud, Wenham et al. And there were many near-successes.

But the fact is, the aeroplane is not one invention, but numerous
inventions and concepts flying in close formation. It needed all the
pieces to be in place for the final success to come.

The Wrights are often portrayed as great scientists. They weren't. Their
greatest breakthroughs (such as choice of wing camber) came about as the
result of trial & error, not the true scientific method of
hypothesis-experiment-theory. However, they were great engineers, and
it's that skill that gave them the insight to add those final key
elements to the design of the aeroplane.

Of course, people like easy labels, and the Wrights themselves were keen
to adopt the title of 'inventors of the aeroplane' (they were, above
everything, businessmen). In such a simplistic worldview, it's not
surprising that competitors for the crown keep appearing: but of all the
contenders, Ader is one of the most feeble.

The Eole lacked any real control surfaces - no rudder or elevator and
just a horribly complex wing-moving mechanism. It achieved a height in
flight, in 1890, of about eight inches, purely due to power - pure grunt
force that owed nothing to aerodynamics. As for the Avion III, in 1897,
this was blown off its circular track by a gust of wind - a failure made
plain by the official report of the time that put an end to Ader's
funding. However, the report didn't actually appear until 1910, so Ader
took the opportunity, in 1906, to lie about his 'successes' - claiming
that he'd made a second flight in the Eole, twice the distance of the
first (which was 165ft), and that he'd flown 1,000ft in the Avion III.

The claims that Ader was first keep reappearing. The sad truth is, it's
based on lies. He has no more claim than other 'brute force' types like
Maxim.